Over the past decade I’ve had a lot of training in leadership. I count myself as lucky. I’ve had the privilege to be able to participate in spaces where I’ve been able to learn about, practice, and be critiqued on what it means to lead, build community, and generate inspiration. Critique goes a long way in helping to hone your practice. Through learning, unlearning, and discovery I’ve also learned to slow down. Taking a step back to reflect, listen, gain more experience through practice, and sharing knowledge has been crucial to my leadership journey.
The leaders I have learned from have been a diverse group ranging across age, ethnicity, gender, geography, and more. They’ve had different levels of experience and authority. Some of were community leaders, others nonprofit executives or board members, and others were government and business leaders. Finally, there were the students and learners. In many ways, I’ve gained some of the biggest revelations from the folks learning with me.
So, what did I learn about leadership?
Much of my learning has focused on servant and adaptive leadership. This style of leadership uses the process of observing, interpreting, and designing actions as key tool. It seeks solutions for challenges that are complex, where the parts are always in flux. These are the challenges requiring innovation and constant learning since even the way you attempt to tackle a problem can change it. Think about the type of complex problems that communities and individuals face: any of the -isms, poverty, community collaboration, etc. These problems can’t be fixed all at once and there are many ways to tackle the issues. The approach can be gradual and incremental. Or, sometimes it has the opportunity to be transformational and can happen quickly. In the end, the choice to make change can have deep and lasting effects.
As so many philosophers, CEOs, elders, and teachers have said in different ways: to lead is demanding and complex. Whether leading comes from the top, is born from the bottom (the grassroots), or somewhere in the middle, there are steps that can help cultivate our ability to lead. Also, to lead well requires sharing what you know. Over the next several blog posts, I’ll be sharing tools for good leadership and exploring ideas of leadership practice that can help you create equity and make change.
What’s on my leadership book shelf?
A great initial resource for learning more about adaptive leadership is the book: The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World by Ronald Heifetz.
